1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape loading mechanism of a rotating drum and cassette type magnetic recording and/or reproduction apparatus such as a Video Tape Recorder (VTR), and, more particularly, to a tape loading mechanism of a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus which will be suitable for a compact VTR with a camera, or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A tape loading mechanismm which pulls out a tape from a cassette and wnds the tape at a predetermined angle to a tape guide drum is one of the major factors that determines the size of the mechanism of a magnetic recording and/or reproduction apparatus.
To cope with VTRs with a camera such as VHS-C cassettes, in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 18848/1985, a tape loading mechanism is proposed which includes a ring arrangement for providing a necessary wide angle wrapping for a four-head small diameter drum system. Namely, the ring (tape guide carrier) is disposed substantially concentrically along a periphery of a tape guide drum, with a built-in rotary head and a group of tape guides being connected to the ring so that the tape is loaded and unloaded upon a rotation of the ring. The tape guide drum is mounted slantingly to a chassis. This ring system can attain easier and simpler wrapping with a wider angle to the drum than by the conventional arm system and does not require complicated joint arms thereby reducing the number of necessary components.
The above-described proposed technique prior art technique reduces the tilt angle of the tape guide drum in order to enable a wide angle wrapping; however, no consideration is given to making the apparatus compact. In other words, the tape loading ring is positioned below the group of tape guides at the loading end position; therefore, the height of the loading mechanism is considerable thereby resulting in the height of the mechanism becoming relatively large.
To solve this problem, it has been proposed to dispose the ring outside the group of tape guides so as not to overlap a plane containing the group of tape guides and the ring at the loading end position. Though capable of reducing the thickness or height of the mechanism, this system is not problem free since the size of the ring and hence the planar area are so great that the mechanism of the apparatus cannot be made compact.